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After drawing comparisons to Ray Lewis in his short time with the Ravens, inside linebacker C.J. Mosley has accomplished something the future Hall of Famer didn’t in his rookie season.

The 17th overall pick of this year’s draft was selected to the Pro Bowl on Tuesday, joining outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil and right guard Marshal Yanda as the Ravens’ selections in 2014.

Mosley is the first rookie in franchise history to be named to the Pro Bowl, which is an impressive accomplishment considering the long list of standout defensive players to play for the Ravens over the last 19 years. The Alabama product is the only player in the NFL with at least 115 tackles, three sacks, and two interceptions this season. His 122 tackles ranks seven in the league and is first among rookies.

He was named the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Month for October and is considered a top candidate to become the league’s Defensive Rookie of the Year.

“First of all, I thank God for the position I am in,” Mosley said in a statement released by the team. “I also give many thanks to the Ravens organization, especially Mr. Ozzie Newsome and Mr. [Steve] Bisciotti for trusting me and bringing me here to play for such a great team. I wouldn’t be in this position without [inside linebackers coach Don Martindale], Daryl [Smith], Albert [McClellan] and Arthur [Brown], who have all taken me under their wing and helped me get where I am. With Daryl specifically, it’s meant so much having a person and player of his caliber next to me throughout my first NFL season.

“Also, a huge ‘thank you’ goes out to Ravens nation for welcoming me. I am honored and humbled.”

After setting the single-season franchise record with 17 sacks in his second year with Baltimore, Dumervil will go to the Pro Bowl for the fourth time but his first with the Ravens. The nine-year veteran has 90 career sacks, putting him third among active players since 2006. His seven multi-sack performances in 2014 bring his career total to 29 games, which is tied for second in the league since 2006.

Dumervil and fellow outside linebacker Terrell Suggs, who was named a first alternate for the Pro Bowl, have formed the best pass-rush duo in the NFL this season as they’ve combined for 28 sacks.

“I also credit Terrell Suggs for helping me this season,” said Dumervil, who thanked his coaches, other teammates, and Ravens fans. “A lot of what I’ve been able to do is a result of the attention he garners on the opposite side. He’s an incredible player who is having another outstanding year, and it’s an honor to play with him.”

Often overlooked because he doesn’t play a glamorous position, Yanda is quietly becoming one of the most decorated players in franchise history after being selected to his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl. The eighth-year veteran graded out as the best guard in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus.

Yanda has led the way for the league’s seventh-ranked rushing attack and has allowed only one sack all season.

Running back Justin Forsett is probably the Ravens’ toughest snub as he leads all running backs with a 5.3 yards per carry average in a surprising season that began with him at the bottom of the depth chart. The 29-year-old has rushed for a career-high 1,147 yards, ranking sixth in the NFL.

As it currently stands now, this is the first time since 2005 that Baltimore failed to earn at least four selections, but Suggs, Forsett, punter Sam Koch, return specialist Jacoby Jones, and fullback Kyle Juszczyk were all named first alternates and could receive the call as replacements due to injury or other Pro Bowl selections appearing in Super Bowl XLIX.

Koch was the only Ravens player to win the fan vote, which accounts for one-third of the voting with votes from coaches and players accounting for the rest.

Defensive tackle Haloti Ngata saw his streak of five consecutive trips to the Pro Bowl come to an end. Of course, Ngata’s four-game suspension for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy played a role in the veteran defensive lineman not receiving an invitation.

For the second straight year, participants were chosen without conference affiliation. Selected players will be assigned to two teams picked by Hall of Famers Cris Carter and Michael Irvin in a Pro Bowl draft that will take place on Jan. 21, 2015.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — No matter what lies ahead for the Ravens in the final four weeks of the regular season, 2014 has been a year to forget.

Thursday brought the latest reminder with the news of five-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Haloti Ngata being suspended four games for testing positive for Adderall.

The black cloud from the Ray Rice saga that continues to linger nearly three months after his release, four other offseason player arrests, the season-ending injuries to Dennis Pitta and Jimmy Smith, and one of their longest-tenured players and a team leader being busted for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy just days before the biggest game of the season in Miami.

What’s next?

With the news of Haloti Ngata's suspension, will the Ravens make the playoffs?

“It does feel like it’s always something, but, shoot, that’s life,” wide receiver Torrey Smith said. “Stuff pops up all the time. It’s all about how you deal with it. If Haloti’s back, we’ll be looking back at it like, ‘Alright, that’s something we already brushed off.’ Again, we’ll be in the playoffs [then].”

The loss of Ngata for the rest of the regular season hurts, but it doesn’t necessarily doom the Ravens’ chances of making the playoffs as they’ll now turn to a deep group of defensive linemen led by rookie second-round pick Timmy Jernigan. The league’s fourth-ranked run defense certainly takes a hit, but it’s not unreasonable to expect younger options to step in and do a respectable job in Ngata’s place.

News of the suspension was surprising as it was such a lapse in judgment from a nine-year veteran who has served as one of the Ravens’ most prominent leaders and has earned a positive reputation in the locker room and in the local community. In addition to the stigma of being linked to performance-enhancing drugs — even if it is Adderall — tainting Ngata’s impeccable career, failing a drug test in his ninth year reeks of foolishness more than anything else.

“We know the rules and we have to abide by them,” rookie linebacker C.J. Mosley said. “It is what it is. We have to move on. We just wish the best for him and hope we make it to the playoffs so we can have him back.”

After enduring the loss of Jimmy Smith in late October, the Ravens have now suffered a major blow to the defense up front where they have been robust enough to help account for arguably the worst secondary in franchise history en route to a 7-5 record. From a mental standpoint, the Ravens must handle Ngata’s absence in the same way they would an injury, but his self-inflicted blow certainly can’t sit well with his teammates.

Whether we see the big defensive tackle again this season now falls on the shoulders of a roster that’s endured more than its share of off-field turmoil.

“It was definitely difficult to hear,” Torrey Smith said. “He’s expressed how disappointed he is. I know he’s hurt for it, and we’re going to be hurt by it. We have a lot of guys who have the ability and they’ve got to step up. That’s the philosophy around here.”

To their credit, the Ravens have held true to that mindset as they responded to Rice’s release with a convincing Thursday night win over Pittsburgh in Week 2. The organization continues to come under scrutiny from top to bottom for its handling of the Rice situation, but you’ve never gotten the sense that it’s impacted the play on the field, especially with such a surprising season from veteran Justin Forsett.

The Ravens lost Pitta for a second straight year and then Smith — their most important defensive player — and have still remained within striking distance of the playoffs as they enter the final quarter of the season.

Regardless of what happens the rest of the way, head coach John Harbaugh and his players deserve credit for navigating through such rough waters in 2014.

But at some point, it’s human nature to throw your hands up and wonder if it’s just not your year.

“We’ve dealt with adversity throughout the course of the season in one form or another,” defensive end Chris Canty said. “We’ll step up and meet the challenge. We’ll try to put ourselves in the best position we can to be successful.”

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Ravens’ playoff hopes took a major blow Thursday with the announcement of Pro Bowl defensive tackle Haloti Ngata being suspended four games for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.

The news comes as Baltimore prepares for a critical Week 14 road matchup with the Miami Dolphins. Ngata will not be eligible to play for the rest of the regular season after he claims he tested positive for Adderall, which is considered an amphetamine.

The 340-pound defensive lineman would be eligible for the postseason should the Ravens qualify.

“I made a mistake, and I own this,” Ngata said in a statement released by the Ravens. “I took Adderall and take full responsibility for doing this. I am deeply sorry and broken up over this. I let down my family, my teammates, Ravens fans and myself. My hope is that the Ravens make the playoffs, and I believe they can do this. And, then I can come back and help us win.”

Unlike the past when players had all control over commenting about the specifics of a suspension, the NFL’s new drug policy allows the league to publicly dispute a player’s claim of what he tested positive for.

The five-time Pro Bowl selection was in the midst of his best season in a few years as he’s collected 31 tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles, and two interceptions to lead the league’s fourth-ranked run defense.

The 7-5 Ravens will likely turn to rookie Timmy Jernigan as well as veterans Terrence Cody and DeAngelo Tyson to pick up the slack at Ngata’s 3-technique defensive tackle spot. Baltimore already lost top cornerback Jimmy Smith earlier this year due to a Lisfranc injury, so Ngata’s suspension strips the Ravens of another top player on the defensive side of the ball.

“This is disappointing news for the Ravens,” general manager Ozzie Newsome said in a statement. “We are disappointed with Haloti, but no more than he is with himself.”

With the suspension, Ngata will forfeit $2 million from his $8.5 million salary in 2014 with the Ravens recovering $2 million against the salary cap. The 30-year-old has one year remaining on a five-year, $61 million contract signed in 2011, but he is scheduled to carry a $16 million cap figure in 2015, which has led many to speculate about his future as the Ravens will attempt to sign him to an extension or face the possibility of cutting him.

Ngata’s suspension is the latest chapter in a difficult year for the Ravens as they’ve dealt with the fallout from the Ray Rice saga as well as season-ending injuries to Smith and starting tight end Dennis Pitta.

The future of defensive tackle Haloti Ngata beyond this season has been discussed for quite some time, but his strong play is creating quite a dilemma for the Ravens this winter.

After two underwhelming seasons for his high standards, some predicted this could be Ngata’s final year in Baltimore as he’s scheduled to carry a $16 million salary cap figure in 2015 — the final season of a five-year, $61 million contract inked in 2011 — but his excellent start may have altered that line of thinking. Last offseason, general manager Ozzie Newsome pursued a contract extension with Ngata similar in nature to what the Ravens did with veteran linebacker Terrell Suggs, but talks didn’t go anywhere.

A good finish to 2014 might further complicate discussions as the Ravens obviously won’t want to stomach a $16 million cap hit to allow Ngata to play out the final year of his current contract, but his asking price for an extension only climbs as he continues to play well. Cutting Ngata this winter would clear $8.5 million in cap space, but the Ravens wouldn’t easily replace his presence at defensive tackle.

Unlike the last few seasons, Ngata has remained healthy and has benefited from focusing on the 3-technique defensive tackle spot — lining up on the outside shoulder of the guard — instead of moving around to different positions on the defensive line. Ngata drew plenty of double teams while playing nose tackle and wasn’t quick enough to make a consistent impact when lining up at the 5-technique defensive end spot against an offensive tackle.

This has led to Ngata having “a really standout year” in defensive coordinator Dean Pees’ mind.

“We really haven’t moved him this year. It makes a whole lot of difference up front there,” said Pees, who used Ngata extensively at the nose last season. “Believe it or not, things go on really fast in that little guard-to-guard area and a little slower the farther out that you go, and there’s a lot of difference in that. When you take a guy, move him out to [5-technique] one week and then move him back in there inside the next week, it’s hard. It’s hard to do that. I really think part of it is because we’ve had the ability to leave guys in the same position and not move them all over.”

In 10 games, the 6-foot-4, 340-pound tackle has collected 29 tackles, two sacks, two interceptions, two forced fumbles, and seven pass breakups. Of course, defensive line play is difficult to quantify, but Pro Football Focus has graded Ngata as the third-best 3-4 defensive end in the league behind Houston’s J.J. Watt and New York Jets lineman Muhammad Wilkerson. The Ravens defense is currently allowing 3.4 yards per carry, its best mark since 2009 and good for sixth in the NFL.

Perhaps the easiest way to measure Ngata’s impact has been the game-changing plays he’s made, which you hadn’t seen as often in the last couple years. In Week 8, it was Ngata’s sack and strip of Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton that led to Daryl Smith’s fumble return and the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter. Last Sunday, Ngata forced Tennessee running back Shonn Greene to fumble at the goal line on the opening drive, a play that loomed large considering how slowly the Ravens started the game on both sides of the ball.

Of course, the overall depth along the defensive line has improved with the emergence of second-year nose tackle Brandon Williams and the recent play of rookie Timmy Jernigan, two players who figure to play major roles for the unit in the coming years. Their presence has taken pressure off Ngata, but they also force Newsome and the front office to carefully weigh how much they should pay the five-time Pro Bowl selection as he turns 31 in January.

“I think we have a little bit of depth there,” Pees said. “The other thing that goes along with that is a little bit of competition, too. You better not back off too far, or somebody is catching you. Competition is always good for everybody.”

Perhaps that competition has been good for Ngata as he’s playing his best football since 2011, but the Ravens know it’s also making their offeseason decision more difficult as the year progresses.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — After seven players missed Wednesday’s practice as the Ravens prepare to play the arch rival Pittsburgh Steelers, three starters returned to the field a day later.

Running back Justin Forsett (ankle), right guard Marshal Yanda (knee), and defensive tackle Haloti Ngata (shin) were all present and working after sitting out Wednesday’s workout. Cornerback Lardarius Webb (non-injury) was also practicing after receiving a veteran day off.

Linebacker Terrell Suggs (neck), wide receiver Michael Campanaro (hamstring), and cornerback Jimmy Smith (foot) remained sidelined. Tight end Owen Daniels (knee) was not present during the portion of practice open to media after working on a limited basis Wednesday.

It remains to be seen whether the Ravens were simply resting Daniels or his knee didn’t respond as favorably as they’d hoped to him practicing so soon after last week’s cleanup procedure.

Wide receiver Steve Smith and linebacker Daryl Smith were not present during the viewing portion of practice, but they were not listed on Thursday’s injury report.

Defensive end Chris Canty (wrist surgery) was practicing once again after being listed as a full participant on Wednesday’s injury report. It appears the veteran will have a good chance of returning to action against Pittsburgh if his conditioning is up to par after a four-game absence due to an infection in his wrist.

For the Steelers, cornerback Ike Taylor (forearm) was a limited participant for the second straight day, leaving open the possibility of him playing for the first time since Week 3.

BALTIMORE — One of the few disappointments for the Ravens in the 29-7 win over the Atlanta Falcons was the season-ending injury to long snapper Morgan Cox.

The fifth-year snapper suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s win. Cox previously tore the ACL in his left knee in a game against the Cleveland Browns late in his rookie season in 2010.

The Ravens will sign another long snapper this week with Cox expected to be placed on season-ending injured reserve as early as Monday.

Cox’s absence partially led to the Ravens going for it on fourth-and-9 from the Atlanta 39 with 1:54 remaining in the game since special teams coordinator Jerry Rosburg was without his long snapper for the punt team. Quarterback Joe Flacco instead threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Torrey Smith to make it a 29-7 lead over Atlanta.

Defensive tackle Haloti Ngata, who has served as the emergency field goal snapper in past seasons, was used to snap the extra point to holder Sam Koch. Head coach John Harbaugh smiled after the game when asked if Ngata would be used as the snapper moving forward, admitting he initially planned to go for the two-point conversion before Rosburg convinced him to let the Pro Bowl defensive lineman have a shot.

“Jerry was like, ‘Let [Haloti] do it. Let’s get the rep out here,'” Harbaugh said. “And he was exactly right, and he did a great job with it.”

The highlights were few and far between for the Ravens in Sunday’s 20-13 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, but rookie linebacker C.J. Mosley was seemingly all over the field.

Whether he was getting lower than lead blocker Jake Doyle to blow up a fourth-and-1 run by Colts running back Ahmad Bradshaw on the opening drive of the game or maneuvering through blockers to minimize the damage on several short passes, there was a certain familiarity in watching the 2014 first-round pick make plays everywhere at Lucas Oil Stadium. It was almost — almost — reminiscent of a certain inside linebacker who famously did it better than anyone for the vaunted Baltimore defense.

Mosley has a long way to go to routinely even be mentioned in the same breath as future Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis, but the sheer fact that many fans and media alike watching Sunday’s game made the comparisons spoke to how well he played in Sunday’s defeat. Finishing the game with 14 tackles, an interception, a quarterback hit, and a pass breakup, Mosley at least looked the part of the rookie version of Lewis in leading the defense in tackles and making several impressive plays throughout the afternoon.

“He had three screens out there where he made the tackles pretty much single-handedly,” head coach John Harbaugh said. “The posse was coming, but he was the guy there and weaved through blockers and made tackles. He tipped passes. He had [quarterback hits]. C.J. is playing really, really well.”

Mosley’s feel for the game has been praised from the moment the Ravens selected him with the 17th overall pick of May’s draft, but his game speed only gets better each week as he leads the team in tackles through the first five games of his NFL career. No, the University of Alabama product is not a finished product as he was beaten in coverage by tight end Dwayne Allen for a 6-yard touchdown in the third quarter, but Mosley has quickly justified why general manager Ozzie Newsome elected to draft another inside linebacker with an early-round pick after taking Arthur Brown in the second round a year ago.

For a defense in transition and in need of game-changing youth with five key members of the front seven over the age of 30, Mosley appeared to be playing at a faster speed that everyone else on the field attempting to slow the Indianapolis offense.

“It’s all about knowing what you have to do, doing your job, and watching film,” Mosley said. “When you know what you’re doing, you can play fast like that.”

The Baltimore defense is still finding its way this season, trying to get more from its aging pass rush while also dealing with health issues and deficiencies in the secondary. Investing a plethora of high draft picks on the defensive side of the ball in recent years, the Ravens have seen mixed results with only Jimmy Smith emerging as a consistent game-changing player to this point.

It appears that Mosley is on his way to joining the top cornerback in that category, which is good news with perennial Pro Bowl players Terrell Suggs and Haloti Ngata nearing the end of their run as standout players. Coaches and teammates view Mosley as the kind of player who will never be satisfied with reaching a certain level of play, always expecting more from himself.

It’s a mindset that sounds awfully familiar as well.

“He’s not a guy that’s going to sit there and say, ‘OK, I had a couple good games, and I’ve arrived,'” Harbaugh said. “He’s going to want to stack that success and build a body of work up behind him. And that’s probably why he’s as good as he is right now. That’s how he looks at it.”

Having already impressed veteran teammates by cracking the top of the depth chart next to fellow inside linebacker Daryl Smith early in training camp, Mosley has been everything the Ravens expected as a three-down player only getting better as he gains more experience.

The Ravens’ overall play in Indianapolis was forgettable as they dropped their first road game of the season, but it was a standout performance by the rookie that will be remembered. And his showing against the Colts had teammates feeling the urgency to step up their own game to match him.

“I think he played phenomenal. We’ve all got to catch up to him,” Suggs said after Sunday’s loss. “He was out there making a lot of plays. We knew the kid was special coming in, and that’s why we brought him in and Ozzie drafted him. He had a hell of a day [Sunday].”

After every Ravens game this season, we’ll take a look at five numbers that help explain the outcome …

1 — The number of pass attempts thrown by Joe Flacco that traveled 20 or more yardsSkinny: Offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak’s West Coast system is based on shorter throws in which the quarterback releases the ball quickly, and that’s exactly what Flacco did against the Steelers on Thursday. Knowing what kind of arm Flacco has, the Ravens will certainly mix in some deep shots, but Flacco completed 72.4 percent of his passes as the offense possessed the ball for 35:08. That kind of a game plan — along with the arrival of veteran Steve Smith — has temporarily stunted the production of speedy wide receiver Torrey Smith, but the Steelers failed to record a sack or even a quarterback hit against the Baltimore offense, which is exactly what you want every week.

3 — The number of takeaways by the Baltimore defenseSkinny: Though the Steelers were held to six points, they only produced 22 fewer total yards than the Ravens as three turnovers thwarted a couple attempts to get things going offensively. No takeaway was bigger than the one that came on the opening drive of the game when Pittsburgh had marched inside the red zone before linebacker Daryl Smith stripped the ball away from wide receiver Justin Brown to end a drive that had lasted 12 plays and gained 54 yards. Fellow inside backer C.J. Mosley forced and recovered a fumble of his own that led to a short field goal, and defensive tackle Haloti Ngata tipped a pass to himself for the third takeaway of the night, putting an exclamation point on an opportunistic performance by the defense.

4 — The number of drives lasting 10 or more plays completed by the RavensSkinny: You should be noticing a trend of dictating the tempo of the game as the Ravens were essentially in complete control from their first offensive drive of the night. The unusual statistic accompanying this was the Ravens only going 5-for-12 on third down, but that just shows how effective they were on first and second down. Baltimore scored on all four of these drives — totaling 20 points — while the Steelers managed only three total points on their two drives that were 10 or more plays. The biggest negative you can draw from Thursday’s game was the red-zone offense in which the Ravens only scored touchdowns on two of six trips, three times settling for short field goals after driving inside the 5.

4.39 — The number of yards per play the Ravens averaged on first downSkinny: I mentioned this number to follow up the stat from last week’s game in which the Ravens averaged just 1.67 yards per first-down play before the final drive of the first half. We constantly talk about the importance of third-down conversions, but success or failure on first down has an overwhelming impact on the outlook of a drive in terms of what play options are reasonably at your disposal. The Ravens success on first down against the Pittsburgh defense allowed them to maintain a better semblance of balance with the opponent not knowing whether to expect the run or pass when you’re consistently avoiding second-and-long situations.

36 — The number of rushes by the RavensSkinny: Throwing 62 passes is almost never an acceptable outcome, but last week’s passing total stuck out even more after an offseason in which the Ravens spoke ad nauseam about returning to their roots and committing to the running game. The final rushing total of 157 yards in Week 2 was a bit deceiving when you remember the Ravens only averaged 2.7 yards per carry through the first three quarters, but they ran effectively enough early to keep it as a viable part of the game plan and to avoid becoming one-dimensional. When they reached the fourth quarter with a 17-6 lead, the Ravens were committed to simply beating up the Pittsburgh front and that’s exactly what they did to the tune of 96 yards on 13 carries to sew up the first win of the season.

As everyone else goes through the endeavor of making division-by-division forecasts that will ultimately mean very little, these predictions focus on the Ravens and their effort to bounce back from the first non-playoff season of the John Harbaugh era.

1. Joe Flacco will be the Ravens’ Most Valuable Player.

The quarterback won’t suddenly transform into a 5,000-yard passer with 35 touchdowns, but the arrival of offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak will bring the most efficient Flacco we’ve seen since the 2010 season when he completed nearly 63 percent of his passes and posted a 93.6 passer rating. A steadier running game will alleviate pressure on the seventh-year signal-caller to feel the need to do it all like he encountered last year, which will only make him more effective with better weapons to target. Flacco will throw 25 touchdown passes for the second time in his career.

2. Haloti Ngata will be playing his final season in Baltimore.

The Ravens and Ngata talked about a new contract this offseason in the same way the organization extended Terrell Suggs’ deal, but talks didn’t go anywhere with the five-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle carrying a $16 million salary cap figure this year and next. The difference next year will be the ability to save $8.5 million in cap space by releasing him, which will be easier to execute with the emergence of second-round rookie Timmy Jernigan and nose tackle Brandon Williams this season. Though Ngata is still a good defensive tackle, anyone who’s closely watched him play over the last few years has seen a decline in impact and durability, making it likely this is his final season with the Ravens unless he alters his financial expectations significantly.

3. Kyle Juszczyk and Brandon Williams will be players to take a step forward.

The second-year fullback was a non-factor offensively as a rookie, but it’s clear Kubiak envisions a role for Juszczyk as a receiver out of the backfield, making it possible he catches 30 passes in the way H-back James Casey did in Kubiak’s Houston offense a few years ago. Meanwhile, Williams will need to emerge to soften the blow from the loss of defensive tackle Arthur Jones in free agency, and the 2013 third-round pick was impressive against the run in the preseason. The Ravens need more young players to emerge to offset the reality of several core players approaching the end of their careers, and Juszczyk and Williams will make a bigger impact in 2014 after very quiet rookie campaigns.

4. Marlon Brown and Elvis Dumervil will be players to take a step back.

Even though the second-year receiver had an inconsistent summer, his inclusion in this prediction has more to do with the sheer number of weapons added to the equation with a fully-healthy Dennis Pitta back and the free-agent additions of Steve Smith and Owen Daniels. Brown won’t catch 49 passes again, but he will still be a target in the red zone, which will give him a chance to make his limited opportunities count. Dumervil collected 9 1/2 sacks in his first season with the Ravens, but had only one in his final seven games. He added weight in the offseason, which sounds like a questionable strategy for a 30-year-old rush specialist dependent on speed to get around the edge.

5. Jimmy Smith will be the player who deserves to make the Pro Bowl but won’t.

Before a scary fall that caused bruising and bleeding from his lungs in the second preseason game, Smith was having the best summer of any Baltimore defensive player and appears primed for a breakout campaign after taking significant strides in his first season as a starter. The rest of the secondary is a major concern right now, but Smith could be chosen by defensive coordinator Dean Pees to shadow Cincinnati wideout A.J. Green and the other elite receivers the Ravens encounter in 2014. It may take another year for Smith to finally receive league-wide recognition after an injury-riddled start to his career, but he will play at a Pro Bowl level for an otherwise shaky secondary this season.

6. Terrence Brooks will be starting at free safety before Halloween.

If Smith and Lardarius Webb are healthy, the Ravens should be alright at cornerback even with uncertainty at the No. 3 spot, but there is no such comfort at safety where 2013 first-round pick Matt Elam and veteran newcomer Darian Stewart will start. The Ravens hope Elam playing closer to the line of scrimmage allows him to make a bigger impact, but his summer was quiet as he still struggled to cover and tackle consistently. Stewart didn’t show any signs of being an impact defender playing deep center field and the third-round rookie Brooks took major strides at the end of the summer, making it only a matter of time before the Florida State product supplants him in the starting defense.

7. Steve Smith will be the top veteran newcomer.

It’s easy to be skeptical of the impact Smith will bring at age 35 by pointing to his yards per catch average steadily decreasing over the last three seasons, but the five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver was too impressive this summer to think he won’t be a substantial upgrade to the offense. His swagger and attitude will pump life into an offense that lacked any a year ago, and he has the ability to help move the chains and provide production similar to what Anquan Boldin did in his three years with the Ravens when he averaged 882 receiving yards per season. He won’t be able to bring the same explosiveness all 16 weeks that we saw this summer, but he will still be a significant reason why the offense improves from its 29th overall ranking a year ago.

8. Owen Daniels will be the disappointing veteran newcomer.

The 31-year-old tight end revealed a few days ago that he was dealing with a hamstring injury to clarify Harbaugh’s vague “leg soreness” diagnosis that forced him out of practice for two weeks, but Daniels wasn’t impressive when he was practicing in training camp, struggling to gain separation and make plays to complement Pitta at the tight end position. The Ravens have given Daniels the benefit of the doubt because he is so familiar with Kubiak’s system, but it’s difficult not to be reminded of how little Dallas Clark had remaining in the tank last season while watching Daniels practice this summer. Rookie tight end Crockett Gillmore will need to be ready to step up if Daniels can’t provide what the Ravens need in 2014.

9. C.J. Mosley will be the top Ravens rookie.

This prediction isn’t exactly going out on a limb as he’s the only first-year player currently starting on either side of the football for the Ravens. The Alabama product could occasionally struggle to hold up against physical blockers in defending the run, but he has shown impressive ability in pass coverage, which will make him a three-down linebacker in Week 1. The selection of Mosley raised eyebrows considering the Ravens already had depth at inside linebacker and needs at a number of other positions, but he’s been as good as advertised and has the potential to be a dynamic defensive player in the years to come.

10. The Ravens will make the playoffs with a 9-7 record as a wild card, but they will exit in the first round.

The Ravens will move into the top half of the offensive rankings in 2014, but the defense will slide from last season’s 12th overall spot with an aging front seven and a shaky secondary. This adds up to only modest improvement from 2013 when Baltimore finished 8-8 and fell short of the postseason. Cincinnati will prevail in the AFC North with a 10-6 record, but the overall mediocrity of the AFC will leave the door open for the Ravens to finish 3-1 in the month of December and grab one of the two wild-card spots before bowing out in the first round of the playoffs to Indianapolis.

Bonus Super Bowl XLIX prediction no one asked for: New Orleans will beat Denver in a 30-24 final.

A defense that continues to improve under coordinator Rob Ryan will offset last year’s road struggles and put Drew Brees and the Saints in position to win their second Super Bowl title in the last six years while Peyton Manning and the Broncos fall short on the NFL’s biggest stage for the second straight year.

EA Sports unveiled the player ratings for their upcoming “Madden 15” release Monday. Thanks to BaltimoreRavens.com for compiling the ratings in an easy to digest photo…

The highest overall rated Raven is kicker Justin Tucker (93), with guard Marshal Yanda and defensive tackle Haloti Ngata just behind (92 each). The only other players rated in the 90’s are cornerback Lardarius Webb and linebackers Elvis Dumervil and Terrell Suggs, who all received ratings of 90.